Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-263615 discloses a power-storage-type recoil starter. In the disclosed recoil starter, a reel support shaft attached to the fixed side of an engine via a main body casing is provided on the extension axis of a crankshaft, and a recoil pulley on which a recoil rope is wrapped is rotatably attached to the reel support shaft.
In the power-storage-type recoil starter described above, the main body casing is attached to the engine. The reel support shaft is attached to the center part of the main body casing so as to be positioned on the extension axis of the crankshaft. A rope reel is rotatably attached to the reel support shaft. The recoil rope is wrapped onto the rope reel. A handle is attached to the end of the recoil rope.
The rope reel is connected to a spring case via a speed reduction mechanism, and a cam wheel is connected to the spring case via a power storage mechanism. A rotating member is connected to the cam wheel via a transmission mechanism. The rotating member is attached to the crankshaft.
The transmission mechanism is provided between the cam wheel and the rotating member so that the rotation of the engine when the engine starts is not transmitted to the recoil starter. The transmission mechanism is composed of a plurality of cam claws formed on the external peripheral surface of the cam wheel, and a centrifugal ratchet provided to the rotating member so as to be engaged with the cam claws by centrifugal force.
However, in the conventional recoil starter, the centrifugal ratchet that constitutes the transmission mechanism is structured so as to separate from the cam claws by centrifugal force, and since the centrifugal ratchet is necessarily provided at the crankshaft and to the outside in the radial direction of the cam claws, a cylindrical rotating member must be attached to the crankshaft, and the cam wheel must be rotatably supported by the reel support shaft. Specifically, a pulley support shaft must be provided on the extension axis of the crankshaft, and the profile of an engine that includes the recoil starter is enlarged in the direction of the crankshaft.